Roanoke, Virginia

Roanoke is an independent city in Virginia, located in the Shenandoah Valley and along the Blue Ridge Mountains. The town of Big Lick was established in 1852 and chartered in 1874, and it was renamed to Roanoke in 1882 and became an independent city two years later. The presence of the railroad in Roanoke made it attractive to manufacturers, and it had a rayon plant that was active from 1917 to 1958. In 2010, Roanoke had a population of 97,032 people.